Editing Menachem Begin

{{Short description|Prime Minister of Israel from 1977 to 1983}}
{{Pp-extended|small=yes}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2023}}

{{Infobox officeholder
| birth_name          = 
| native_name         = {{nobold|מנחם בגין}}
| image               = Menachem Begin 1978 (cropped).jpg
| caption             = Begin in 1978
| order               = 6th
| office              = Prime Minister of Israel
| term_start          = 21 June 1977
| term_end            = 10 October 1983
| president           = {{plainlist|* [[Ephraim Katzir]]
* [[Yitzhak Navon]]
* [[Chaim Herzog]]}}
| predecessor         = [[Yitzhak Rabin]]
| successor           = [[Yitzhak Shamir]]
| office2             = Ministerial roles
| suboffice2          = [[Minister in the Prime Minister's Office|Minister in the PM's Office]]
| subterm2            = 1967–1970
| suboffice3          = Minister of Defense
| subterm3            = 1980–1981
| suboffice4          = Minister of Defense
| subterm4            = 1983
| office5             = Faction represented in the [[Knesset]]
| suboffice5          = [[Herut]]
| subterm5            = 1948–1965
| suboffice6          = [[Gahal]]
| subterm6            = 1965–1973
| suboffice7          = [[Likud]]
| subterm7            = 1973–1981
| birth_date          = {{Birth date|df=yes|1913|8|16}}
| birth_place         = [[Brest, Belarus|Brest]], [[Grodno Governorate]], Russian Empire
| death_date          = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1992|3|9|1913|8|16}}
| death_place         = [[Tel Aviv]], Israel
| spouse              = {{Marriage|[[Aliza Begin|Aliza Arnold]]|1939|1982|end=died}}
| children            = 3, including [[Benny Begin|Ze'ev Binyamin]]
| alma_mater          = [[University of Warsaw]]
| signature           = Menachem Begin signature - he.svg
| allegiance          = {{plainlist|* Poland
* [[Yishuv]]}}
| branch              = {{plainlist|* [[Anders' Army]] (1941–1942)
* [[Irgun]] (1943–1948)}}
| rank                = {{plainlist|* [[Corporal]] 
* Leader of the Irgun}}
| serviceyears        = 
| commands            = 
| battles             = [[Jewish insurgency in Mandatory Palestine]]<br>[[1947–48 civil war in Mandatory Palestine]]<br>[[1948 Arab–Israeli War]]
| module              = {{Listen|pos=center|embed=yes|filename=Menachem Begin voice.ogg|title=Menachem Begin's voice|type=speech|description=Begin on [[Israel–United States relations]]<br/>Recorded 10 September 1981}}
| native_name_lang    = he
}}

'''Menachem Begin''' ({{Langx|he|מְנַחֵם בֵּגִין}} ''Menaḥem Begin'', {{IPA|he|menaˈχem ˈbeɡin|pron|He-Menachem_Begin.ogg}}; {{langx|pl|Menachem Begin}} (Polish documents, 1931–1937);<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://planetabelarus.by/publications/brestskiy-kraeved-obnaruzhil-v-arkhive-polskiy-pasport-menakhema-begina/|title=Брестский краевед обнаружил в архиве польский паспорт Менахема Бегина|website=planetabelarus.by}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/polands-urban-legend-about-menachem-begin/|title=Poland's urban legend about Menachem Begin|website=blogs.timesofisrael.com}}</ref> {{Langx|ru|link=no|Менахем Вольфович Бегин|translit=Menakhem Volfovich Begin}}; 16 August 1913 – 9 March 1992) was an Israeli politician, founder of both [[Herut]] and [[Likud]] and the [[List of Prime Ministers of Israel|sixth Prime Minister of Israel]].

Before the creation of the [[state of Israel]], he was the leader of the Zionist militant group [[Irgun]], the [[Revisionist Zionism|Revisionist]] breakaway from the larger Jewish paramilitary organization [[Haganah]]. He proclaimed a [[Irgun#Revolt|revolt]], on 1 February 1944, against the [[Mandatory Palestine|British mandatory government]], which was opposed by the [[Jewish Agency for Palestine#Jewish Agency for Palestine|Jewish Agency]]. As head of the Irgun, he [[Jewish insurgency in Mandatory Palestine|targeted the British in Palestine]],<ref>John J. Mearsheimer and Stephen M. Walt, The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy, at 102 (Farrar, Straus and Giroux 2007).</ref> with a notable attack being the [[King David Hotel bombing]]. Later, the Irgun fought the Arabs during the [[1947–48 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine]] and, as its chief, Begin was described by the British government as the "leader of the notorious [[terrorist]] organisation". It declined him an entry visa to the [[United Kingdom]] between 1953 and 1955. However, Begin's overtures of friendship eventually paid off and he was granted a visa in 1972, five years prior to becoming prime minister.<ref name="haaretz7jul11">{{cite news|url=http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/british-documents-reveal-begin-refused-entry-to-u-k-in-1950s-1.371838|title=British Documents Reveal: Begin Refused Entry to U.K. in 1950s|first=Amir|last=Oren|date=7 July 2011|newspaper=Haaretz}}</ref>

Begin was elected to the first [[Knesset]], as head of [[Herut]], the party he founded, and was at first on the political fringe, embodying the opposition to the [[Mapai]]-led government and Israeli establishment. He remained in opposition in the eight consecutive elections (except for a national unity government around the [[Six-Day War]]), but became more acceptable to the political center. His 1977 [[1977 Israeli legislative election|electoral victory]] and premiership ended three decades of [[Israeli Labor Party|Labor Party]] political dominance.

Begin's most significant achievement as Prime Minister was the signing of a [[Egypt–Israel peace treaty|peace treaty with Egypt]] in 1979, for which he and [[Anwar Sadat]] shared the [[Nobel Peace Prize]]. In the wake of the [[Camp David Accords]], the [[Israel Defense Forces]] (IDF) withdrew from the [[Sinai Peninsula]], which had been captured from Egypt in the Six-Day War. Later, Begin's government promoted the construction of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Begin authorized the [[Operation Opera|bombing of the Osirak nuclear plant]] in Iraq and the invasion of Lebanon in 1982 to fight [[PLO]] strongholds there, igniting the [[1982 Lebanon War]]. As Israeli military involvement in Lebanon deepened, and the [[Sabra and Shatila massacre]], carried out by Christian [[Phalangist]] militia allies of the Israelis, shocked world public opinion,<ref>Gwertzman, Bernard. [https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0C17FC3B5C0C7A8DDDA00894DA484D81 "Christian Militiamen Accused of a Massacre in Beirut Camps; U.S. Says the Toll Is at Least 300"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140302153248/http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0C17FC3B5C0C7A8DDDA00894DA484D81&scp=35&sq=massacre+lebanon&st=nyt |date=2 March 2014}}. ''[[The New York Times]]''. 19 September 1982.</ref> Begin grew increasingly isolated.<ref>Thompson, Ian. ''Primo Levi: A Life''. 2004, page 436.</ref> As IDF forces remained mired in Lebanon and the economy suffered from [[hyperinflation]], the public pressure on Begin mounted. Depressed by the death of his wife [[Aliza Begin|Aliza]] in November 1982, he gradually withdrew from public life, until his resignation in October 1983.

==Biography==
[[File:FAMILY PICTURE OF MENAHEM BEGIN (TOP L) WITH SISTER RACHEL AND LATE BROTHER HERZL WITH THEIR PARENTS IN THEIR HOME TOWN IN POLAND. תצלום משפחתי של מנחD690-049.jpg|thumb|right|Begin (top center) with his parents, his sister Rachel, and his brother Herzl in Poland, 1932]]
Menachem Begin was born to Zeev Dov and Hassia Begun in what was then Brest-Litovsk in the [[Russian Empire]] (today [[Brest, Belarus|Brest]], [[Belarus]]). He was the youngest of three children.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ibiblio.org/sullivan/bios/MenachemBegin-Bio.html|title=Menachem Begin Biography |website=www.ibiblio.org}}</ref> On his mother's side he was descended from distinguished rabbis. His father, a timber merchant, was a community leader, a passionate [[Zionism|Zionist]], and an admirer of [[Theodor Herzl]]. The midwife who attended his birth was the grandmother of [[Ariel Sharon]].<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite news |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C07E0DC1F39F93AA25752C1A962948260 |work=The New York Times |first=Christopher |last=Lehmann-Haupt |title=Books Of The Times |date=19 November 1984}}</ref>

After a year of a traditional [[cheder]] education Begin started studying at a "Tachkemoni" school, associated with the religious Zionist movement. In his childhood, Begin, like most Jewish children in his town, was a member of the Zionist scouts movement [[Hashomer Hatzair]]. He was a member of Hashomer Hatzair until the age of 13, and at 16, he joined [[Betar (youth movement)|Betar]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://begincenter.org.il/en/Article.aspx?CID=8070 |title=Museum - מרכז מורשת מנחם בגין |access-date=12 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141213020727/http://begincenter.org.il/en/Article.aspx?CID=8070 |archive-date=13 December 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> At 14, he was sent to a Polish government school,<ref>Bernard Reich, ''Political Leaders of the Contemporary Middle East and North Africa,'' Greenwood Press, Westport, 1990 p.71</ref> where he received a solid grounding in [[classical literature]].

Begin studied law at the [[University of Warsaw]], where he learned the [[Eloquence|oratory]] and [[rhetoric]] skills that became his trademark as a politician, and viewed as [[demagogy]] by his critics.<ref>[[Anita Shapira]] [http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasite/pages/ShArtSR.jhtml?itemNo=723209&objNo=59651&returnParam=Y Begin on the Couch] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110818052605/http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasite/pages/ShArtSR.jhtml?itemNo=723209&objNo=59651&returnParam=Y |date=18 August 2011}}, Haaretz Books, in Hebrew</ref>
[[File:BeginBeitar1935.jpg|thumb|Begin reviews a [[Betar]] lineup in Poland in 1939. Next to him is Moshe (Munya) Cohen{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}]]

During his studies, he organized a self-defense group of Jewish students to counter harassment by anti-Semites on campus.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/magazine/begin-s-legacy-the-man-who-transformed-israel-1.414180 |title=Begin's Legacy / The Man Who Transformed Israel |first=Esti |last=Ahronovitz |date=22 February 2012 |newspaper=Haaretz}}</ref> He graduated in 1935, but never practiced law. At this time he became a disciple of [[Ze'ev Jabotinsky|Vladimir "Ze'ev" Jabotinsky]], the founder of the nationalist [[Revisionist Zionism]] movement and its youth wing, [[Betar]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Haber |first=Eitan |title=Menahem Begin: The Legend and the Man |url=https://archive.org/details/menahembegin00eita |url-access=registration |year=1978 |publisher=Delacorte |location=New York|isbn=978-0-440-05553-2 }}</ref> His rise within Betar was rapid: at 22, he shared the dais with his mentor at the Betar World Congress in [[Kraków]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Shilon|first=Avi|title=Menachem Begin: A Life|year=2012|location=New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press|pages=13–15}}</ref> The pre-war Polish government actively supported Zionist youth and paramilitary movements. In 1937<ref>{{Cite web|title=מנחם בגין|url=https://www.gov.il/he/Departments/people/begin|access-date=21 May 2021|website=GOV.IL|language=he}}</ref> he was the active head of Betar in [[Czechoslovakia]] and became head of the largest branch, that of Poland. As head of Betar's Polish branch, Begin traveled among regional branches to encourage supporters and recruit new members. To save money, he stayed at the homes of Betar members. During one such visit, he met his future wife [[Aliza Begin|Aliza Arnold]], who was the daughter of his host. The couple married on 29 May 1939. They had three children: [[Benny Begin|Binyamin]], Leah and Hassia.<ref>Lehr Wagner, Heather: ''Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin: negotiating peace in the Middle East''</ref>

Living in Warsaw in Poland, Begin encouraged Betar to set up an organization to bring Polish Jews to Palestine. He unsuccessfully attempted to smuggle 1,500 Jews into [[Romania]] at the end of August 1939. Returning to Warsaw afterward, he left three days after the German [[invasion of Poland|1939 invasion]] began, first to the southwest and then to [[Wilno]].
[[File:Menachem Begin in September 1940.jpg|thumb|[[NKVD]] mugshots of Menachem Begin, 1940]]
In September 1939, after Germany invaded Poland, Begin, in common with a large part of Warsaw's Jewish leadership, escaped to Wilno (today [[Vilnius]]), then eastern Poland, to avoid inevitable arrest. The town was soon occupied by the [[Soviet Union]], but from 28 October 1939, it was the capital of the Republic of Lithuania. Wilno was a predominately Polish and [[Polish Jews|Jewish]] town; an estimated 40 percent of the population was Jewish, with the [[YIVO]] institute located there. As a prominent pre-war Zionist and reserve status officer-cadet, on 20 September 1940, Begin was arrested by the [[NKVD]] and detained in the [[Lukiškės Prison]]. In later years he wrote about his experience of being tortured. He was accused of being an "agent of British [[imperialism]]" and sentenced to eight years in the Soviet [[gulag]] camps. On 1 June 1941 he was sent to the [[Pechora]] [[labor camp]]s in Komi Republic, the northern part of European Russia. Much later in life, Begin recorded and reflected upon his experiences in the interrogations and life in the camp in his memoir ''[[White Nights (book)|White Nights]]''.

In July 1941, just after [[Operation Barbarossa|Germany attacked the Soviet Union]], and following his release under the [[Sikorski–Mayski agreement]] because he was a Polish national, Begin joined the Free Polish [[Anders' Army]] as a [[corporal]] [[officer cadet]]. He was later sent with the army to [[Mandatory Palestine|Palestine]] via the [[Persian Corridor]], where he arrived in May 1942.<ref name=haber1978>{{cite book |last=Haber |first=Eitan |author-link=Eitan Haber |title=Menachem Begin: The Legend and the Man |publisher=Delacorte Press |location=New York |year=1978 |isbn=978-0-440-05553-2 |url=https://archive.org/details/menahembegin00eita}} <!-- Chapter 7: "Menahem Begin arrived in Palestine in May 1942" --></ref>

Upon arriving in Palestine, Begin, like many other Polish Jewish soldiers of the Anders' Army, faced a choice between remaining with the Anders' Army to fight Nazi Germany in Europe, or staying in Palestine to fight for establishment of a Jewish state. While he initially wished to remain with the Polish army, he was eventually persuaded to change his mind by his contacts in the [[Irgun]], as well as Polish officers sympathetic to the Zionist cause. Consequently, General [[Michał Karaszewicz-Tokarzewski]], the second-in-command of the Army, issued Begin with a "leave of absence without an expiration" which gave Begin official permission to stay in Palestine. In December 1942 he left Anders's Army and joined the [[Irgun]].<ref name=LeavingAndersArmy>Sources differ on how Begin left Anders' Army. Many indicate that he was discharged, e.g.:
* Eitan Haber (1979). ''Menachem Begin: The Legend and the Man''. Dell Publishing Company. p. 136. {{ISBN|978-0-440-16107-3}}. "A while later Anders's Chief of Staff, General Ukolitzky, did agree to the release of six Jewish soldiers to go to the United States on a campaign to get the Jewish community to help the remnants of European Jewry. The Chief of Staff, who was well acquainted with Dr. Kahan, invited him to his office for a drink. There were a number of senior officers present, and Kahan realized that this was a farewell party for Ukolitzky. 'I'm leaving here on a mission, and my colleagues are throwing a party but the last document I signed was an approval of release for Menahem Begin.'"
* Bernard Reich (1990) ''Political Leaders of the Contemporary Middle East and North Africa'' Greenwood Publishing Group. {{ISBN|978-0-313-26213-5}}. p. 72. "In 1942 he arrived in Palestine as a soldier in General Anders's (Polish) army. Begin was discharged from the army in December 1943."
* Harry Hurwitz (2004). ''Begin: His Life, Words and Deeds''. Gefen Publishing House. {{ISBN|978-965-229-324-4}}. p. 9. "His friends urged him to desert the Anders Army, but he refused to do any such dishonourable thing and waited until, as a result of negotiations, he was discharged and permitted to enter Eretz Israel, then under British mandatory rule".
* [http://begincenter.org.il/en/FAQ.aspx?CID=8070 "Biography – White Nights"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160213195525/http://www.begincenter.org.il/en/FAQ.aspx?CID=8070 |date=13 February 2016 }}. Menachem Begin Heritage Center. Retrieved 16 January 2012. "Many of the new recruits deserted the army upon their arrival, but Begin decidedly refused to follow suit. 'I swore allegiance to the Polish army – I will not desert,' he resolutely told his friends when he was reunited with them on Jewish soil. Begin served in the Polish army for about a year and a half with the rank of corporal... At the initiative of Aryeh Ben-Eliezer and with the help of Mark Kahan, negotiations began with the Polish army regarding the release of five Jewish soldiers from the army, including Begin, in return for which the members of the IZL delegation would lobby in Washington for the Polish forces. The negotiations lasted many weeks until they finally met with success: The Polish commander announced the release of four of the soldiers. Fortunately, Begin was among them."
Others give differing views, e.g.:
* Amos Perlmutter (1987). ''The Life and Times of Menachem Begin'' Doubleday. {{ISBN|978-0-385-18926-2}}. p. 134. "In the Ben Eliezer-Mark Kahan version, Begin received a complete, honorable release from the Anders Army. The truth is that he only received a one-year leave of absence, a kind of extended furlough, in order to enable him to join an Anders Army Jewish delegation which would go to the United States seeking help for the Polish government-in-exile. The delegation never materialized, mainly due to British opposition. Begin, however, never received an order to return to the ranks of the Army."</ref>

During [[the Holocaust]], Begin's father was among the 5,000 Brest Jews rounded up by the Nazis at the end of June 1941. Instead of being sent to a forced labor camp, they were shot or drowned in the river. His mother and his elder brother Herzl also were murdered in the Holocaust.<ref>{{cite book |last=Grunor |first=Jerry A. |title=Let My People Go |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bDzcCM_l-04C&pg=PA135 |publisher=iUniverse |year=2005 |page=135 |isbn=978-0-595-36769-6}}</ref>

===Jewish underground===
[[File:MENAHEM BEGIN IN POLISH ARMY UNIFORM WITH WIFE ALIZA IN TEL-AVIV. COURTESY JABOTINSKY INSTITUTE. מנחם בגין במדי הצבא הפולני עם רעייתו עליזה , בתל אביבD705-085.jpg|thumb|150px|Begin in his Polish Army uniform with his wife Aliza in Tel Aviv, December 1942.]]
Begin quickly made a name for himself as a fierce critic of the dominant [[Mapai|Zionist leadership]] for being too cooperative with the British, and argued that the only way to save the Jews of Europe, who were facing extermination, was to compel the British to leave so that a Jewish state could be established. In 1942 he joined the [[Irgun]] (''Etzel''), an underground Zionist paramilitary organization which had split from the main Jewish military organization, the [[Haganah]], in 1931. Begin assumed the Irgun's leadership in 1944, determined to force the British government to remove its troops entirely from Palestine. The official Jewish leadership institutions in Palestine, the [[Jewish Agency for Israel|Jewish Agency]] and [[Jewish National Council]] ("Vaad Leumi"), backed up by their military arm, the [[Haganah]], had refrained from directly challenging British authority. They were convinced that the British would establish a Jewish state after the war due to support for the Zionist cause among both the Conservative and Labour parties. Giving as reasons that the British had reneged on the promises given in the [[Balfour Declaration]] and that the [[White Paper of 1939]] restricting Jewish immigration was an escalation of their pro-Arab policy, he decided to break with the official institutions and launch an armed rebellion against British rule, in cooperation with [[Lehi (group)|Lehi]], another breakaway Zionist group.

Begin had also carefully studied the tactics of the [[Indian independence movement]]. Even more importantly, during multiple meetings with [[Irish Jew|Jewish]] [[Lord Mayor of Dublin]] and senior IRA veteran [[Robert Briscoe (politician)|Robert Briscoe]], who jokingly described himself as the "Chair of Subversive Activity against England",<ref>{{Cite web|last=O'Dwyer|first=Thomas|date=2006-07-28|title=Free Stater: Just for interest: A story of Dev, Bob Briscoe and Israel/Palestine - "Son of a gun"|url=http://freestater.blogspot.com/2006/07/just-for-interest-story-of-dev-bob.html|access-date=2021-05-21|website=freestater.blogspot.com}}</ref> Begin had also carefully studied the highly successful use of [[guerrilla warfare]] tactics by [[Michael Collins (Irish leader)|Michael Collins]] during the [[Irish War of Independence]]. While planning the rebellion with Irgun commanders, Begin accordingly devised a highly similar strategy that he believed would force the [[British Empire]] out. He proposed a series of [[guerrilla warfare]] attacks that would humiliate the [[British Empire]] and damage their prestige; this would cause the British Cabinet, as they had with the [[Black and Tans]] and the [[Auxiliary Division]] in Ireland, to unleash indiscriminate [[total war]] tactics against the whole Jewish civilian population, which would completely alienate the [[Yishuv]]. Similarly to Michael Collins, Begin banked on the international media being attracted to the action, which he referred to as turning Palestine into a "glass house", as the whole world looked inside. He knew that British total war and civilian repression would create both global sympathy for the Irgun's cause and international diplomatic pressure on Britain. Ultimately, the British Cabinet would be forced to choose between further escalating the repression or complete withdrawal, and Begin was certain that in the end, the British would leave. Further, so as not to disturb the Allied war effort against [[Nazi Germany]], only British civilian administration and [[Palestine Police Force]] targets would be attacked at first, while [[British armed forces]] personnel would only be attacked after [[Adolf Hitler]] had been defeated.<ref name=Bell>Bell, Bowyer J.: ''Terror out of Zion'' (1976)</ref>

On 1 February 1944, the Irgun proclaimed a revolt. Twelve days later, it put its plan into action when Irgun teams bombed the empty offices of the British Mandate's Immigration Department in [[Jerusalem]], [[Tel Aviv]], and [[Haifa]]. The Irgun next bombed the Income Tax Offices in those three cities, followed by a series of attacks on police stations in which two Irgun fighters and six policemen were killed. Meanwhile, Lehi joined the revolt with a series of shooting attacks on policemen.<ref name=Bell/>
[[File:AJI view 846.TIF|thumb|[[Palestine Police Force]] wanted poster of Irgun and Lehi members. Begin appears at the top left.]]
The Irgun and Lehi attacks intensified throughout 1944. These operations were financed by demanding money from Jewish merchants and engaging in insurance scams in the local diamond industry.<ref>[[Yehuda Bauer]], ''From Diplomacy to Resistance: A History of Jewish Palestine'', Jewish Publication Society of America, Philadelphia, 1970 p.325.</ref>

[[File:Menahem Begin during his "Rabbi Sassover" period with wife Aliza and son Benyamin-Zeev in Tel Aviv.jpg|thumb|Begin in the guise of "Rabbi Sassover" with wife Aliza and son Benyamin-Zeev, Tel Aviv, December 1946]]
[[File:בגין (במרכז) עם משוחררי אצ"ל, 1948.jpg|thumb|Begin with Irgun members, 1948]]
In 1944, after Lehi gunmen assassinated [[Walter Guinness, 1st Baron Moyne|Lord Moyne]], the British Resident Minister in the Middle East, the official Jewish authorities, fearing British retaliation, ordered the Haganah to undertake a campaign of collaboration with the British. Known as [[The Hunting Season]], the campaign seriously crippled the Irgun for several months, while Lehi, having agreed to suspend their anti-British attacks, was spared. Begin, anxious to prevent a civil war, ordered his men not to retaliate or resist being taken captive, convinced that the Irgun could ride out the Season, and that the Jewish Agency would eventually side with the Irgun when it became apparent the British government had no intention of making concessions. Gradually, shamed at participating in what was viewed as a collaborationist campaign, the enthusiasm of the Haganah began to wane, and Begin's assumptions were proven correct. The Irgun's restraint also earned it much sympathy from the Yishuv, whereas previously it had been assumed by many that it had placed its own political interests before those of the Yishuv.<ref name=Bell/>

In the summer of 1945, as it became clear that the British were not planning on establishing a Jewish state and would not allow significant Jewish immigration to Palestine, Jewish public opinion shifted decisively against the British, and the Jewish authorities sent feelers to the Irgun and Lehi to discuss an alliance. The result was the [[Jewish Resistance Movement]], a framework under which the Haganah, Irgun, and Lehi launched coordinated series of anti-British operations. For several months in 1945–46, the Irgun fought as part of the Jewish Resistance Movement. Following [[Operation Agatha]], during which the British arrested many Jews, seized arms caches, and occupied the Jewish Agency building, from which many documents were removed, Begin ordered an attack on the British military and administrative headquarters at the [[King David Hotel]] following a request from the Haganah, although the Haganah's permission was later rescinded. The [[King David Hotel bombing]] resulted in the destruction of the building's southern wing, and 91 people, mostly British, Arabs, and Jews, were killed.

The fragile partnership collapsed following the bombing, partly because contrary to instructions, it was carried out during the busiest part of the day at the hotel. The Haganah, from then on, would rarely mount attacks against British forces and would focus mainly on the [[Aliyah Bet]] illegal immigration campaign, and while it occasionally took half-hearted measures against the Irgun, it never returned to full-scale collaboration with the British. The Irgun and Lehi continued waging a full-scale insurgency against the British, and together with the Haganah's illegal immigration campaign, this forced a large commitment of British forces to Palestine that was gradually sapping British financial resources. Three particular Irgun operations directly ordered by Begin: the [[Night of the Beatings]], the [[Acre Prison break]], and the [[The Sergeants affair|Sergeants affair]], were cited as particularly influencing the British to leave due to the great loss of British prestige and growing public opposition to Britain remaining in Palestine at home they generated. In September 1947, the British cabinet voted to leave Palestine, and in November of that year, the United Nations approved a resolution to partition the country between Arabs and Jews. The financial burden imposed on Britain by the Jewish insurgency, together with the tremendous public opposition to keeping troops in Palestine it generated among the British public was later cited by British officials as a major factor in Britain's decision to evacuate Palestine.<ref name=Hoffman>Hoffman, Bruce: ''Anonymous Soldiers'' (2015)</ref><ref>Charters, David A.: ''The British Army and Jewish Insurgency in Palestine, 1945–47'' (1989), p. 63</ref>

===1948 Palestine war===
{{Further|1948 Palestine war}}

[[File:Menachem Begin inspecting Irgun members 1948.jpg|thumb|Menachem Begin (left) inspecting members of the Irgun in Jerusalem, August 1948.]]

In December 1947, immediately following the UN partition vote, the [[1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine]] broke out between the Yishuv and Palestinian Arabs. The Irgun fought together with the Haganah and Lehi during that period. Notable operations in which they took part were the [[Operation Hametz|battle of Jaffa]] and the [[battle for Jerusalem|Jordanian siege]] on the [[Jewish Quarter (Jerusalem)|Jewish Quarter]] in the Old City of [[Jerusalem]]. The Irgun's most controversial operation during this period, carried out alongside Lehi, was an assault on the Arab village of [[Deir Yassin]] in which more than a hundred villagers and four of the attackers were killed. The event later became known as the [[Deir Yassin massacre]], though Irgun and Lehi sources would deny a massacre took place there. Begin also repeatedly threatened to declare independence if the Jewish Agency did not do so.<ref name=Bell />

Throughout the period of the rebellion against the British and the civil war against the Arabs, Begin lived openly under a series of assumed names, often while sporting a beard. Begin would not come out of hiding until April 1948, when the British, who still maintained nominal authority over Palestine, were almost totally gone. During the period of revolt, Begin was the most wanted man in Palestine, and [[MI5]] placed a 'dead-or-alive' bounty of [[Pound sterling|£]]10,000 on his head. Begin had been forced into hiding immediately prior to the declaration of revolt, when Aliza noticed that their house was being watched. He initially lived in a room in the Savoy Hotel, a small hotel in [[Tel Aviv]] whose owner was sympathetic to the Irgun's cause, and his wife and son were smuggled in to join him after two months. He decided to grow a beard and live openly under an assumed name rather than go completely into hiding. He was aided by the fact that the British authorities possessed only two photographs of his likeness, of which one, which they believed to be his military identity card, bore only a slight resemblance to him, according to Begin, and were fed misinformation by [[Yaakov Meridor]] that he had had plastic surgery, and were thus confused over his appearance. Due to the British police conducting searches in the hotel's vicinity, he relocated to a Yemenite neighborhood in [[Petah Tikva]], and after a month, moved to the Hasidof neighborhood near [[Kfar Sirkin]], where he pretended to be a lawyer named Yisrael Halperin. After the British searched the area but missed the street where his house was located, Begin and his family moved to a new home on a Tel Aviv side street, where he assumed the name Yisrael Sassover and masqueraded as a rabbi. Following the King David Hotel bombing, when the British searched the entire city of Tel Aviv, Begin evaded capture by hiding in a secret compartment in his home.<ref name=Bell/> In 1947, he moved to the heart of Tel Aviv and took the identity of Dr. Yonah Koenigshoffer, the name he found on an abandoned passport in a library.

In the years following the establishment of the State of Israel, the Irgun's contribution to precipitating British withdrawal became a hotly contested debate as different factions vied for control over the emerging narrative of Israeli independence.<ref>[[Tom Segev]], ''One Palestine, Complete: Jews and Arabs Under the British Mandate'', Henry Holt and Co. 2000, p. 490</ref> Begin resented his portrayal as a belligerent dissident.<ref>In his book ‘The Revolt’ (1951), Begin outlines the history of the Irgun’s fight against British rule.</ref>

====''Altalena Affair''====
[[File:Altalena off Tel-Aviv beach.jpg|thumb|''Altalena'' on fire after being shelled near Tel-Aviv]]
{{main|Altalena Affair}}
After the [[Declaration of Independence (Israel)|Israeli Declaration of Independence]] on 14 May 1948 and the start of the [[1948 Arab–Israeli War]], Irgun continued to fight alongside Haganah and Lehi. On 15 May 1948, Begin broadcast a speech on radio declaring that the Irgun was finally moving out of its underground status.<ref>[http://www.begincenter.org.il/uploads/articles/english/Speech%20May%2015%201948.pdf Begin's Speech on Saturday 15 May 1948] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130929125301/http://www.begincenter.org.il/uploads/articles/english/Speech%20May%2015%201948.pdf |date=29 September 2013}}</ref> On 1 June Begin signed an agreement with the provisional government headed by [[David Ben-Gurion]], where the Irgun agreed to formally disband and to integrate its force with the newly formed [[Israel Defense Forces]] (IDF),{{citation needed|date=August 2010}} but was not truthful of the armaments aboard the ''[[Altalena Affair|Altalena]]'' as it was scheduled to arrive during the cease-fire ordered by the United Nations and therefore would have put the State of Israel in peril as Britain was adamant the partition of Jewish and Arab Palestine would not occur.  This delivery was the smoking gun Britain would need to urge the UN to end the partition action.

Intense negotiations between representatives of the [[Provisional government of Israel|provisional government]] (headed by Ben-Gurion) and the Irgun (headed by Begin) followed the departure of ''Altalena'' from France. Among the issues discussed were logistics of the ship's landing and distribution of the cargo between the military organizations. Whilst there was agreement on the anchoring place of the ''Altalena'', there were differences of opinion about the allocation of the cargo. Ben-Gurion agreed to Begin's initial request that 20% of the weapons be dispatched to the Irgun's [[Jerusalem]] [[Battalion]], which was still fighting independently. His second request, however, that the remainder be transferred to the IDF to equip the newly incorporated Irgun battalions, was rejected by the Government representatives, who interpreted the request as a demand to reinforce an "army within an army."

The ''Altalena'' reached Kfar Vitkin in the late afternoon of Sunday, 20 June. Among the Irgun members waiting on the shore was Menachem Begin, who greeted the arrivals with great emotion. After the passengers had disembarked, members of the fishing village of [[Mikhmoret]] helped unload the cargo of military equipment. Concomitantly with the events at Kfar Vitkin, the government had convened in Tel Aviv for its weekly meeting. Ben-Gurion reported on the meetings which had preceded the arrival of the ''Altalena'', and was adamant in his demand that Begin surrender and hand over all of the weapons:

<blockquote>We must decide whether to hand over power to Begin or to order him to cease his separate activities. If he does not do so, we will open fire! Otherwise, we must decide to disperse our own army.</blockquote>

The debate ended in a resolution to empower the army to use force if necessary to overcome the Irgun and to confiscate the ship and its cargo. Implementation of this decision was assigned to the Alexandroni Brigade, commanded by {{ill|Dan Even|he|דן אבן}} (Epstein), which the following day surrounded the Kfar Vitkin area. Dan Even issued the following ultimatum:

<blockquote>To: M. Begin<br />By special order from the Chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, I am empowered to confiscate the weapons and military materials which have arrived on the Israeli coast in the area of my jurisdiction in the name of the Israel Government. I have been authorized to demand that you hand over the weapons to me for safekeeping and to inform you that you should establish contact with the supreme command. You are required to carry out this order immediately. If you do not agree to carry out this order, I shall use all the means at my disposal in order to implement the order and to requisition the weapons which have reached shore and transfer them from private possession into the possession of the Israel government. I wish to inform you that the entire area is surrounded by fully armed military units and armored cars, and all roads are blocked. I hold you fully responsible for any consequences in the event of your refusal to carry out this order. The immigrants – unarmed – will be permitted to travel to the camps in accordance with your arrangements. You have ten minutes to give me your answer.<br />D.E., Brigade Commander</blockquote>

The ultimatum was made, according to Even, "in order not to give the Irgun commander time for lengthy considerations and to gain the advantage of surprise." Begin refused to respond to the ultimatum, and all attempts at mediation failed. Begin's failure to respond was a blow to Even's prestige, and a clash was now inevitable. Fighting ensued and there were a number of casualties. In order to prevent further bloodshed, the Kfar Vitkin settlers initiated negotiations between [[Yaakov Meridor]] (Begin's deputy) and [[Dan Even]], which ended in a general ceasefire and the transfer of the weapons on shore to the local IDF commander.

[[File:Atalena crew.jpg|thumb|right|Some of the crew of the ''Altalena''. Bottom row center is Captain Monroe Fein.]]
Begin had meanwhile boarded the ''Altalena'', which was headed for Tel Aviv where the Irgun had more supporters. Many Irgun members, who joined the IDF earlier that month, left their bases and concentrated on the Tel Aviv beach. A confrontation between them and the IDF units started.  In response, Ben-Gurion ordered [[Yigael Yadin]] (acting Chief of Staff) to concentrate large forces on the Tel Aviv beach and to take the ship by force. Heavy guns were transferred to the area and at four in the afternoon, Ben-Gurion ordered the shelling of the ''Altalena''. One of the shells hit the ship, which began to burn. [[Yigal Allon]], commander of the troops on the shore, later claimed only five or six shells were fired, as warning shots, and the ship was hit by accident.<ref>Silver, Eric (1984) ''Begin: A Biography''. Weidenfeld and Nicolson, {{ISBN|978-0-297-78399-2}}. Page 107.</ref>

There was danger that the fire would spread to the holds which contained explosives, and Captain [[Monroe Fein]] ordered all aboard to abandon ship. People jumped into the water, whilst their comrades on shore set out to meet them on rafts. Although Captain Fein flew the white flag of surrender, automatic fire continued to be directed at the unarmed survivors swimming in the water.{{Citation needed|date=July 2011}} Begin, who was on deck, agreed to leave the ship only after the last of the wounded had been evacuated. Sixteen Irgun fighters were killed in the confrontation with the army (all but three were veteran members and not newcomers in the ship); six were killed in the Kfar Vitkin area and ten on Tel Aviv beach. Three IDF soldiers were killed: two at Kfar Vitkin and one in Tel Aviv.<ref>Morris, 1948, p272: "Altogether eighteen men died in the clashes, most of them IZL". Katz, ''Days of Fire'' (an Irgun memoir), p247: 16 Irgun, 2 Hagana. Perliger, Jewish Terrorism in Israel, p27: 16 Irgun and 2 Hagana.</ref><ref>Koestler, Arthur (First published 1949) '''Promise and Fulfilment – Palestine 1917–1949''' {{ISBN|978-0-333-35152-9}}. Page 249 : "About forty people had been killed in the fighting on the beaches, on board the ship, or while trying to swim ashore."</ref><ref>Netanyahu, Benjamin (1993) '''A Place among the Nations – Israel and the World.''' British Library catalogue number 0593 034465. Page 444. "eighty-two members of the Irgun were killed."</ref>

After the shelling of the ''Altalena'', more than 200 Irgun fighters were arrested. Most of them were released several weeks later, with the exception of five senior commanders (Moshe Hason, [[Eliyahu Lankin]], [[Yaakov Meridor]], [[Bezalel Amitzur]], and [[Hillel Kook]]), who were detained for more than two months, until 27 August 1948. Begin agreed the Irgun soldiers would be fully integrated with the IDF and not kept in separate units.

About a year later, ''Altalena'' was refloated, towed 15 miles out to sea and sunk.<ref name="Altalena_PalYam">{{Cite web |url=http://www.palyam.org/English/IS/Kaplan_Aryeh_Kippy |title=Aryeh Kaplan, ''This is the Way it Was'' at Palyam site |access-date=2 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090508061556/http://www.palyam.org/English/IS/Kaplan_Aryeh_Kippy |archive-date=8 May 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Political career==

===Herut opposition years===
[[File:Menachem Begin při projevu v srpnu 1948.jpg|thumb|Begin; August 1948]]
In August 1948, Begin and members of the Irgun High Command emerged from the underground and formed the right-wing political party [[Herut]] ("Freedom") party.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.knesset.gov.il/lexicon/eng/begin_eng.htm|title=Menachem Begin (1913-1992)|website=www.knesset.gov.il}}</ref> The move countered the weakening attraction for the earlier [[Revisionist Zionism|revisionist party]], [[Hatzohar]], founded by his late mentor [[Ze'ev Jabotinsky]]. Revisionist 'purists' alleged nonetheless that Begin was out to steal Jabotinsky's mantle and ran against him with the old party. The Herut party can be seen as the forerunner of today's [[Likud]].

In November 1948, Begin visited the US on a campaigning trip. During his visit, [[s:New Palestine Party; Visit of Menachen Begin and Aims of Political Movement Discussed|a letter]] signed by [[Albert Einstein]], [[Sidney Hook]], [[Hannah Arendt]], and other prominent Americans and several rabbis was published which described Begin's Herut party as "terrorist, right-wing chauvinist organization in Palestine,"<ref>{{cite news |last=Schuster |first=Ruth |title='This Day in Jewish History / N.Y. Times publishes letter by Einstein, other Jews accusing Menachem Begin of fascism |date=4 December 2014 |work=Haaretz |url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/features/this-day-in-jewish-history/.premium-1.629813 }}</ref> "closely akin in its organization, methods, political philosophy and social appeal to the [[Nazi]] and Fascist parties" and accused his group (along with the smaller, militant, [[Stern Gang]]) of preaching "racial superiority" and having "inaugurated a reign of terror in the Palestine Jewish community".<ref>''"The Gun and the Olive Branch"'' pp. 472–473, David Hirst, quotes ''Lilienthal, Alfred M.'', The Zionist Connection, What Price Peace?, Dodd, Mead and Company, New York, 1978, pp. 350–353 – ''Albert Einstein joined other distinguished citizens in chiding these `Americans of national repute' for honoring a man whose party was `closely akin in its organization, methods, political philosophy and social appeal to the Nazi and Fascist parties'.'' See text at [http://phys4.harvard.edu/~wilson/NYTimes1948.html Harvard.edu] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071217113044/http://phys4.harvard.edu/~wilson/NYTimes1948.html |date=17 December 2007 }} [http://www.yayacanada.com/einstein_ltr_fascism.html and image] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090704021403/http://www.yayacanada.com/einstein_ltr_fascism.html |date=4 July 2009 }}. Verified 5 December 2007.</ref><ref>[[Albert Einstein]] had already publicly denounced the [[Revisionist Zionism|Revisionists]] in 1939; at the same time Rabbi [[Stephen Samuel Wise|Stephen Wise]] denounced the movement as, "Fascism in [[Yiddish]] or [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]." See Rosen, Robert N., ''Saving the Jews: Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Holocaust'', Thunder's Mouth Press, New York, 2006, p. 318.</ref>

In the [[1949 Israeli legislative election|first elections in 1949]], Herut, with 11.5 percent of the vote, won 14 seats, while Hatzohar failed to break the threshold and disbanded shortly thereafter. This provided Begin with legitimacy as the leader of the Revisionist stream of Zionism. During the 1950s, Begin was banned from entering the [[United Kingdom]], as the British government regarded him as "leader of the notorious terrorist organisation Irgun."<ref name="haaretz7jul11" /> Begin's disappointment at the result of the [[1951 Israeli legislative election]], in which Herut lost six of its 14 seats, led Begin to resign as Herut leader in August 1951, and naming [[Aryeh Ben-Eliezer]] as his successor. Despite sending the party his resignation letter and going abroad to Europe, the party's national council voted instead to make Ben-Eliezer deputy chairman and grant Begin a six-month [[leave of absence]], while re-electing him as party chairman. Begin did not return to public life until January 1952, prompted to do so by the growing debate around the [[Reparations Agreement between Israel and the Federal Republic of Germany]] as well as by Ben-Eliezer being hospitalized due to a serious heart attack in December 1951.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Weitz |first1=Yechiam |title=Where's Menachem Begin? - His Disappearance in 1951 and Its Significance |journal=Israel Studies Review |date=2005 |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=115–137 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41805145|doi=10.3167/106577105780793644 |jstor=41805145 |access-date=1 July 2024|issn=2159-0370 }}</ref>

Between 1948 and 1977, under Begin, Herut and the alliances it formed ([[Gahal]] in 1965 and [[Likud]] in 1973) formed the main opposition to the dominant [[Mapai]] and later the [[Alignment (political party)|Alignment]] (the forerunners of today's [[Labor Party (Israel)|Labor Party]]) in the [[Knesset]]; Herut adopted a radical nationalistic agenda committed to the [[irredentism|irredentist]] idea of [[Greater Israel]] that usually included [[Jordan]].<ref>{{cite book | author = Colin Shindler | title = The Land Beyond Promise: Israel, Likud and the Zionist Dream | publisher = I.B. Tauris | year = 2002| pages = xviii, 45, 57, 87 }}</ref> During those years, Begin was systematically delegitimized by the ruling party, and was often personally derided by [[David Ben-Gurion|Ben-Gurion]] who refused to either speak to or refer to him by name. Ben-Gurion famously coined the phrase 'without Herut and [[Maki (historical political party)|Maki]]' (Maki was the [[communist party]]), referring to his refusal to consider them for coalition, effectively pushing both parties and their voters beyond the margins of political consensus.

The personal animosity between Ben-Gurion and Begin, going back to the hostilities over the [[Altalena Affair|''Altalena'' Affair]], underpinned the political dichotomy between Mapai and Herut. Begin was a keen critic of Mapai, accusing it of [[coercion|coercive]] [[Bolshevism]] and deep-rooted [[institutional corruption]]. Drawing on his training as a lawyer in Poland, he preferred wearing a formal suit and tie and evincing the dry demeanor of a legislator to the socialist informality of Mapai, as a means of accentuating their differences.

One of the fiercest confrontations between Begin and Ben-Gurion revolved around the [[Reparations Agreement between Israel and West Germany]], signed in 1952. Begin vehemently opposed the agreement, claiming that it was tantamount to a pardon of Nazi crimes against the Jewish people.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jpost.com/Tags/satellite|title=Satellite News and latest stories &#124; The Jerusalem Post|website=www.jpost.com}}</ref> While the agreement was debated in the [[Knesset]] in January 1952, he led a demonstration in [[Jerusalem]] attended by some 15,000 people, and gave a passionate and dramatic speech in which he attacked the government and called for its violent overthrow. Referring to the Altalena Affair, Begin stated that "when you fired at me with a cannon, I gave the order: 'No!' Today I will give the order, 'Yes!'"<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://lib.cet.ac.il/Pages/item.asp?item=7188 |title=See his Speech (Hebrew) |access-date=5 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080503135854/http://lib.cet.ac.il/pages/item.asp?item=7188 |archive-date=3 May 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Incited by his speech, the crowd marched towards the Knesset (then at the Frumin Building on King George Street) and threw stones at the windows, and at police as they intervened. After five hours of rioting, police managed to suppress the riots using water cannons and tear gas. Hundreds were arrested, while some 200 rioters, 140 police officers, and several Knesset members were injured. Many held Begin personally responsible for the violence, and he was consequently barred from the Knesset for several months. His behavior was strongly condemned in mainstream public discourse, reinforcing his image as a provocateur. The vehemence of Revisionist opposition was deep; in March 1952, during the ongoing reparations negotiations, a parcel bomb addressed to [[Konrad Adenauer]], the sitting [[West Germany|West German]] [[Chancellor of Germany (Federal Republic of Germany)|Chancellor]], was intercepted at a German post office. While being defused, the bomb exploded, killing one [[sapper]] and injuring two others. Five Israelis, all former members of Irgun, were later arrested in Paris for their involvement in the plot. Chancellor Adenauer decided to keep secret the involvement of Israeli opposition party members in the plot, thus avoiding Israeli embarrassment and a likely backlash. The five Irgun conspirators were later extradited from both France and Germany, without charge, and sent back to Israel. Forty years after the assassination attempt, Begin was implicated as the organizer of the assassination attempt in a memoir written by one of the conspirators, Elieser Sudit.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/jun/15/germany.lukeharding Menachem Begin plotted assassination attempt to kill German chancellor], Luke Harding, [[The Guardian]], 15 June 2006</ref><ref>Nachman Ben-Yehuda, [https://books.google.com/books?id=19ZMulluIgkC&pg=PA275 ''Political Assassinations by Jews: A Rhetorical Device for Justice''], SUNY Press, New York, 1993</ref><ref>[http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2054061,00.html Report Says Begin Was Behind Adenauer Letter Bomb], Deutsche Welle, 13 June 2006</ref><ref>[http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasite/pages/ShArtPE.jhtml?itemNo=726635&contrassID=2&subContrassID=21&sbSubContrassID=0 Sudite: I sent the bomb on Begin's order] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605023943/http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasite/pages/ShArtPE.jhtml?itemNo=726635&contrassID=2&subContrassID=21&sbSubContrassID=0 |date=5 June 2011 }}, in Hebrew</ref>

Begin's impassioned rhetoric, laden with pathos and evocations of the Holocaust, appealed to many, but was deemed inflammatory and [[demagoguery]] by others.

===Gahal and unity government===
In the following years, Begin failed to gain electoral momentum, and Herut remained far behind [[Labor Party (Israel)|Labor]] with a total of 17 seats until 1961. In the [[1965 Israeli legislative election]], Herut and the [[Liberal Party (Israel)|Liberal Party]] united to form the [[Gahal]] bloc under Begin's leadership, but the merger prompted several Liberal MKs to split and form the [[Independent Liberals (Israel)|Independent Liberals]] and Gahal failed to gain seats in the election, or make up the seats it lost from the Independent Liberal defection. In 1966, during Herut's party convention, he was challenged by the young [[Ehud Olmert]]. The opposition group within Herut, however, sensed that Begin's leadership position was too strong to challenge directly and concentrated on winning control over the party organization. They won overwhelming victories in all votes for the composition of party institutions. Begin responded to these challenges by announcing his retirement as party chairman and suggesting he would also resign seat in the Knesset. Begin's move mobilized delegates in support of him, but the party convention ended without a party chairman being elected; the chair would be vacant for eight months. Internal opposition to Begin' leadership came to a head a month after the convention, when Haim Amsterdam, an assistant to one of the opposition leaders, [[Shmuel Tamir]], published a devastating attack on Begin in ''[[Ha'aretz]]'';<ref>[https://jfc.org.il/news_journal/60552-2/101717-2/?lang=eng Herut Members That Criticized Menachem Begin Tried by the Partys Tribunalr], Yoman Geva 378, 1966.</ref> this led to the suspension of Tamir's party membership.<ref>[[Asael Lubotzky]], [[Not My Last Journey]], [[Yedioth Ahronoth]], 2017, pages 196–202.</ref> The leaders of the opposition then established a new party in the Knesset, the [[Free Center]], with the loss of three seats for Herut. After this revolt, Begin reversed his decision to retire and returned as party chairman in February 1967.<ref>{{cite news |title=Herut Convention Ends with Appeal to Begin to Withdraw Resignation |url=https://www.jta.org/archive/herut-convention-ends-with-appeal-to-begin-to-withdraw-resignation |access-date=1 July 2024 |work=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |date=5 July 1966}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Goldstein |first1=Amir |title=Crisis and Development: Menachem Begin's Leadership Throughout the 1960s |journal=Israel Studies |date=Spring 2015 |volume=20 |issue=1 |pages=110–123 |doi=10.2979/israelstudies.20.1.110 |jstor=10.2979/israelstudies.20.1.110 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2979/israelstudies.20.1.110 |access-date=1 July 2024}}</ref><ref name=weitz>Yechiam Weitz: "The Road to the 'Upheaval': A Capsule History of the Herut Movement, 1948–1977", in ''Israel Studies'', Fall 2005, Vol. 10, No. 3.</ref>

The day the [[Six-Day War]] started in June 1967, Gahal joined the [[national unity government]] under Prime Minister [[Levi Eshkol]] of the Alignment, resulting in Begin serving in the [[Cabinet of Israel|cabinet]] for the first time, as a [[Minister without Portfolio]]. [[Rafi (political party)|Rafi]] also joined the unity government at that time, with [[Moshe Dayan]] becoming Defense Minister. Gahal's arrangement lasted until August 1970, when Begin and Gahal quit the government, then led by [[Golda Meir]] due to disagreements over the [[Rogers Plan]] and its "in place" cease-fire with Egypt along the Suez Canal,<ref>[[Newsweek]] 30 May 1977, ''The Zealot'', <blockquote> But he quit in 1970 when Prime Minister Golda Meir, under pressure from Washington, renewed a cease-fire with Egypt along the Suez Canal.</blockquote></ref> Other sources, including [[William B. Quandt]], note that the Labor party, by formally accepting [[UN 242]] in mid-1970, had accepted "peace for withdrawal" on all fronts, and because of this Begin had left the unity government. On 5 August, Begin explained before the Knesset why he was resigning from the cabinet. He said, "As far as we are concerned, what do the words 'withdrawal from territories administered since 1967 by Israel' mean other than Judea and Samaria. Not all the territories; but by all opinion, most of them."<ref>[[William B. Quandt]], ''Peace Process, American Diplomacy and the Arab-Israeli Conflict since 1967'', pp. 194ff</ref>

===Likud chairmanship===
[[File:Flickr - Government Press Office (GPO) - Begin in the Knesset.jpg|thumb|Begin addressing the Knesset in 1974]]
In 1973, Begin agreed to a plan by [[Ariel Sharon]] to form a larger bloc of opposition parties, made up from Gahal, the [[Free Centre]], and other smaller groups. They came through with a tenuous alliance called the [[Likud]] ("Consolidation"). In the elections held later that year, two months after the [[Yom Kippur War]], the Likud won a considerable share of the votes, though with 39 seats still remained in opposition.{{citation needed|date=November 2023}}

Yet the aftermath of the Yom Kippur War saw ensuing public disenchantment with the Alignment. Voices of criticism about the government's misconduct of the war gave rise to growing public resentment. Personifying the antithesis to the Alignment's socialist ethos, Begin appealed to many [[Mizrahi Jews|Mizrahi]] Israelis, mostly first and second generation [[Jewish exodus from Arab lands|Jewish refugees from Arab countries]], who felt they were continuously being treated by the establishment as second-class citizens. His open embrace of Judaism stood in stark contrast to the Alignment's secularism, which alienated Mizrahi voters and drew many of them to support Begin, becoming his burgeoning political base. In the years 1974–77 [[Yitzhak Rabin]]'s government suffered from instability due to infighting within the labor party (Rabin and [[Shimon Peres]]) and the shift to the right by the National Religious Party, as well as numerous corruption scandals. All these weakened the labor camp and finally allowed Begin to capture the center stage of Israeli politics.{{citation needed|date=November 2023}}

In 1977 Begin declared that "between [[From the river to the sea|the [Mediterranean] Sea and the Jordan River]] there shall only be Israeli sovereignty".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Steinberg |first1=Gerald M. |last2=Rubinovitz |first2=Ziv |title=Menachem Begin and the Israel-Egypt Peace Process Between Ideology and Political Realism |date=2019 |publisher=Indiana University Press |page=1976}}</ref>

==Prime Minister of Israel==
{{Conservatism in Israel|Politicians}}

===1977 electoral victory===
[[File:Menachem Begin 1978.jpg|thumb|Menachem Begin in 1978]]

{{Main|1977 Israeli legislative election}}
On 17 May 1977, the Likud, headed by Begin, won the [[1977 Israeli legislative election|Knesset elections]] by a landslide, becoming the biggest party in the [[Knesset]]. Popularly known as the ''Mahapakh'' ("upheaval"), the election results had seismic ramifications as for the first time in Israeli history a party other than the Alignment/Mapai was in a position to form a government, effectively ending the left's hitherto unrivalled domination over Israeli politics. Likud's electoral victory signified a fundamental restructuring of Israeli society in which the founding socialist Ashkenazi elite was being replaced by a coalition representing marginalized [[Mizrahi Jews|Mizrahi]] and Jewish-religious communities, promoting a socially conservative and [[economic liberalism|economically liberal]] agenda.

[[File:Menachem Begin and Moshe Dayan exits from an aircraft.JPEG|thumb|left|upright|Begin and [[Moshe Dayan]] exit from an aircraft at [[Andrews Air Force Base]], [[Maryland]], United States]]
The Likud campaign leading up to the election centered on Begin's personality. Demonized by the Alignment as [[totalitarian]] and extremist, his self-portrayal as a humble and pious leader struck a chord with many who felt abandoned by the ruling party's ideology. In the predominantly [[Mizrahi Jews|Mizrahi]] working class urban neighborhoods and peripheral towns, the Likud won overwhelming majorities, while disillusionment with the Alignment's corruption prompted many middle and upper class voters to support the newly founded [[centrism|centrist]] [[Democratic Movement for Change]] ("Dash") headed by [[Yigael Yadin]]. Dash won 15 seats out of 120, largely at the expense of the Alignment, which was led by [[Shimon Peres]] and had shrunk from 51 to 32 seats. Well aware of his momentous achievement and employing his trademark sense for drama, when speaking that night in the Likud headquarters Begin quoted from the [[Gettysburg Address]] and the [[Torah]], referring to his victory as a 'turning point in the history of the Jewish people'.

With 43 seats, the Likud still required the support of other parties in order to reach a parliamentary majority that would enable it to form a government under [[Politics of Israel|Israel's proportionate representation parliamentary system]]. Though able to form a narrow coalition with smaller Jewish religious and [[Haredi Judaism|ultra-orthodox]] parties, Begin also sought support from centrist elements in the Knesset to provide his government with greater public legitimacy. He controversially offered the foreign affairs portfolio to [[Moshe Dayan]], a former [[Ramatkal|IDF Chief of Staff]] and [[Defense Minister of Israel|Defense Minister]], and a prominent Alignment politician identified with the old establishment. Dash eventually joined his government several months later, thus providing it with the broad support of almost two thirds of the Knesset. While prime ministerial adviser, [[Yehuda Avner]], served as Begin's speech writer.

On 19 June 1977, Likud signed a coalition agreement with the [[National Religious Party]] (which held twelve seats) and the [[Agudat Yisrael]] party. Without defections, the coalition of Likud and these two parties created the narrowest-possible majority in a full Knesset (61 seats).<ref>{{cite web |title=Israel forms coalition |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/224909931 |website=Newspapers.com |publisher=The Orlando Sentinel |agency=Washington Post Dispatch |access-date=26 May 2022 |language=en |url-access=subscription |date=20 June 1977}}</ref> After eight hours of debate, Begin's government was officially approved in a Knesset vote on 21 June 1977, making him the new [[prime minister of Israel]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Begin Takes Israeli Post |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/39041837 |website=Newspapers.com |publisher=The Times (San Mateo, California) |agency=The Associated Press |access-date=26 May 2022 |language=en |url-access=subscription |date=21 June 1977}}</ref>

===Socioeconomic policies===
[[File:Flickr - Government Press Office (GPO) - Menahem Begin with Ariel Sharon.jpg|thumb|Prime Minister Menahem Begin (left) meets with Agriculture Minister [[Ariel Sharon]] at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem. August 1977]]
As Prime Minister, Begin presided over various reforms in the domestic field. Tuition fees for secondary education were eliminated and compulsory education was extended to the tenth grade,<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=ewXm2afBe0AC&pg=PA60 Policy Implementation of Social Welfare in the 1980s] By Frederick A. Lazin. Google Books.</ref> while new social programmes were introduced such as long-term care insurance<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/progdesc/ssptw/2010-2011/asia/israel.html|title=Social Security Programs Throughout the World: Asia and the Pacific, 2010 - Israel|website=www.ssa.gov|access-date=14 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160809204159/https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/progdesc/ssptw/2010-2011/asia/israel.html|archive-date=9 August 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> and a national income support system.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=aHTZxre-2MMC&pg=PA173 Public Policy in Israel] By David Nachmias and Gila Menachem. Google Books.</ref> A [[Television in Israel|ban on color television]] that had been imposed to enforce social equality was abolished, and the minimum age for a driver's license was lowered to 17.<ref name=benn/>

Begin's economic policies sought to liberalize Israel's [[socialism|socialist]] economy towards a more free-market approach, and he appointed [[Simha Erlich]] as Finance Minister. Erlich unveiled a new economic policy that became known as the "economic transformation". Under the new plan, the exchange rate would from then on be determined by market forces rather than the government, subsidies for many consumer products were cancelled, [[foreign exchange controls]] were eased, the [[Value added tax|VAT]] tax was raised while the travel tax was cancelled, and customs duties were lowered to encourage imports of more products. The plan generated some improvement; cheap and high-quality imported products began to fill consumer shelves, the business sector benefited greatly, and the stock market recorded rising share prices. However, the program did not improve the lives of the Israeli people as Begin had hoped. The combination of the increased VAT, the end of subsidies, and a rise in the U.S. dollar exchange rate set off a wave of inflation and price increases. In particular, the fact that government spending was not significantly reduced in tandem with the liberalization program triggered a massive bout of inflation. On 17 July 1978, the Israeli cabinet met to discuss rising inflation, but Begin, declaring that "you cannot manage economics over the housewife's back", halted all proposals. In the end, the government decided not to take any actions and allow inflation to ride its course. Begin and his other ministers did not internalize the full meaning of the liberalization plan. As a result, he blocked attempts by Erlich to lower government spending and government plans to privatize public-sector enterprises out of fear of harming the weaker sectors of society, allowing the privatization of only eighteen government companies during his six-year tenure.<ref name=benn>{{cite news|url=http://www.haaretz.com/misc/iphone-article/for-better-or-worse-begin-s-legacy-is-embedded-in-israel-s-economy.premium-1.526153|title=Article Iphone View Element|newspaper=Haaretz}}</ref><ref>Shilon, Avi: ''Menachem Begin: A Life''</ref> In 1983, shortly before Begin's resignation, a major [[1983 Israel bank stock crisis|financial crisis]] hit Israel after the stocks of the country's four largest banks collapsed and were subsequently nationalized by the state. Inflation would continue rapidly rising past Begin's tenure, and was only brought under control after the [[1985 Israel Economic Stabilization Plan]], which among other things greatly curbed government spending, was introduced. The years of rampant inflation devastated the economic power of the powerful [[Histadrut]] labor federation and the [[kibbutz]]im, which would help Israel's approach towards a free-market economy.<ref name=benn/>

Begin's government has been credited with starting a trend that would move Israel towards a capitalist economy that would see the rise of a consumer culture and a pursuit of wealth and higher living standards, replacing a culture that scorned capitalism and valued social, as well as government restrictions to enforce equality.<ref name=benn/>

In terms of social justice, however, the legacy of the Begin Government was arguably a questionable one. In 1980, the state Social Security Institute estimated that from 1977 to 1980 the number of babies born in poverty doubled, while there had been a 300% increase in the number of families with four to five children below the poverty line. Additionally, the number of families with more than five children below the poverty line went up by 400,% while child poverty estimates suggested that from 1977 to 1981 the number of children living below the poverty line had risen from 3.8% to 8.4%,<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=nGNMBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA241 Discord in Zion: Conflict Between Ashkenazi and Sephardi Jews in Israel] G. N. Giladi, 1990. Google Books.</ref> while officials at the National Institute of Insurance estimated that the incidence of poverty had doubled during Begin's five years in office.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ad_zCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA5|title=Data and Policy Change: The Fragility of Data in the Policy Context|first=David|last=Dery|date=11 November 2013|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-94-009-2187-0|via=Google Books}}</ref>

===Camp David accords===
[[File:Sadat and Begin clean3.jpg|right|thumb|Egyptian President [[Anwar Sadat]] and Menachem Begin acknowledge applause during a joint session of Congress in Washington, D.C., during which President [[Jimmy Carter]] announced the results of the [[Camp David Accords]], 18 September 1978.]]

In 1978, Begin, aided by Foreign Minister [[Moshe Dayan]] and Defense Minister [[Ezer Weizman]], came to Washington and Camp David to negotiate the [[Camp David Accords (1978)|Camp David Accords]], leading to the 1979 [[Egypt–Israel peace treaty]] with Egyptian President, [[Anwar Sadat]]. Before going to Washington to meet President Carter, Begin visited Rabbi [[Menachem M. Schneerson]] for his advice.<ref>{{YouTube|JPQuAQH7uKA|Begin Visits New York Before Camp David}}</ref> Under the terms of the treaty, brokered by US President [[Jimmy Carter]], Israel was to hand over the [[Sinai Peninsula]] in its entirety to Egypt. The peace treaty with Egypt was a watershed moment in Middle Eastern history, as it was the first time an [[Arab]] state recognized Israel's legitimacy whereas Israel effectively accepted the [[land for peace]] principle as blueprint for resolving the [[Arab–Israeli conflict]]. Given Egypt's prominent position within the [[Arab World]], especially as Israel's biggest and most powerful enemy, the treaty had far reaching strategic and [[geopolitics|geopolitical]] implications.

Almost overnight, Begin's public image of an irresponsible nationalist radical was transformed into that of a statesman of historic proportions. This image was reinforced by international recognition which culminated with him being awarded, together with Sadat, the [[Nobel Peace Prize]] in 1978.

Yet while establishing Begin as a leader with broad public appeal, the peace treaty with Egypt was met with fierce criticism within his own Likud party. His devout followers found it difficult to reconcile Begin's history as a keen promoter of the [[Greater Israel]] agenda with his willingness to relinquish occupied territory. Agreeing to the removal of [[Israeli settlements]] from the Sinai was perceived by many as a clear departure from Likud's [[Revisionist Zionism|Revisionist]] ideology. Several prominent Likud members, most notably [[Yitzhak Shamir]], objected to the treaty and abstained when it was ratified with an overwhelming majority in the Knesset, achieved only thanks to support from the opposition. A small group of hardliners within Likud, associated with [[Gush Emunim]] Jewish settlement movement, eventually decided to split and form the [[Tehiya]] party in 1979. They led the ''Movement for Stopping the Withdrawal from Sinai'', violently clashing with IDF soldiers during the forceful eviction of [[Yamit]] settlement in April 1982. Despite the traumatic scenes from Yamit, political support for the treaty did not diminish and the Sinai was handed over to Egypt in 1982.

[[File:Begin Brzezinski Camp David Chess.jpg|right|thumb|Prime Minister Menachem Begin engages [[Zbigniew Brzezinski]] in a game of [[chess]] at [[Camp David]], 1978.]]
Begin was less resolute in implementing the section of the Camp David Accord calling for [[Palestinian people|Palestinian]] self-rule in the [[West Bank]] and [[Gaza Strip]]. He appointed [[Agriculture Minister of Israel|Agriculture Minister]] [[Ariel Sharon]] to implement a large scale expansion of Jewish settlements in the [[Israeli-occupied territories]], a policy intended to make future territorial concessions in these areas effectively impossible.{{citation needed|date=April 2019}} Begin refocused Israeli settlement strategy from populating peripheral areas in accordance with the [[Allon Plan]], to building Jewish settlements in areas of Biblical and historic significance. When the settlement of [[Elon Moreh]] was established on the outskirts of [[Nablus]] in 1979, following years of campaigning by Gush Emunim, Begin declared that there are "many more Elon Morehs to come." During his term dozens of new settlements were built, and Jewish population in the West Bank and Gaza more than quadrupled.

===Bombing Iraqi nuclear reactor===
{{Main|Operation Opera|Begin Doctrine}}
[[File:Menachem Begin at UN General Assembly (1982).jpg|thumb|Begin speaking at the [[United Nations General Assembly]] (1982)]]
Begin took [[Saddam Hussein]]'s [[Anti-Zionism|anti-Zionist]] threats seriously and therefore took aim at [[Iraq]], which was building a [[nuclear reactor]] named Osirak or Tammuz 1 with [[France|French]] and [[Italy|Italian]] assistance. When Begin took office, preparations were intensified. Begin authorized the construction of a full-scale model of the Iraqi reactor which Israeli pilots could practice bombing.<ref>Simons, Geoff: ''Iraq: From Summer to Saddam''. St. Martin's Press, 1996, p. 320</ref> Israel attempted to negotiate with France and Italy to cut off assistance and with the United States to obtain assurances that the program would be halted. The negotiations failed. Begin considered the diplomatic option fruitless, and worried that prolonging the attack would lead to a fatal inability to act in response to the perceived threat.

The decision to attack was hotly contested within Begin's government.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.carnegieendowment.org/programs/npp/index.cfm?fa-proj&id=116 |title=Nuclear Policy - Carnegie Endowment for International Peace |access-date=13 November 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150409082243/http://carnegieendowment.org/programs/npp/index.cfm?fa-proj&id=116 |archive-date=9 April 2015 }}</ref> However, in October 1980, the [[Mossad]] informed Begin that the reactor would be fueled and operational by June 1981. This assessment was aided by reconnaissance photos supplied by the United States, and the [[Cabinet of Israel|Israeli cabinet]] voted to approve an attack.<ref>''Striking first: Preemptive and preventive attack in U.S. national security'' – Karl P. Mueller</ref> In June 1981, Begin ordered the destruction of the reactor. On 7 June 1981, the [[Israeli Air Force]] destroyed the reactor in a successful long-range operation called ''[[Operation Opera]]''.<ref name="name of reference goes here">{{cite book|title=The Prime Ministers: An Intimate Narrative of Israeli Leadership|last=Avner|first=Yehuda|author-link=Yehuda Avner|year=2010|publisher=The Toby Press|isbn=978-1-59264-278-6|pages=551–563}}</ref> Soon after, the government and Begin expounded on what came to be known as the [[Begin Doctrine]]: "On no account shall we permit an enemy to develop [[weapons of mass destruction]] (WMD) against the people of Israel." Begin explicitly stated the strike was not an anomaly, but instead called the event "a precedent for every future government in Israel"; it remains a feature of Israeli security planning policy.<ref>[http://www.nti.org/country-profiles/israel/nuclear/ Country Profiles -Israel] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006135509/http://www.nti.org/country-profiles/israel/nuclear/ |date=6 October 2014 }}, [[Nuclear Threat Initiative]] (NTI)  updated May 2014</ref> Many foreign governments, including the United States, condemned the operation, and the [[United Nations Security Council]] unanimously passed [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 487|Resolution 487]] condemning it. The Israeli left-wing opposition criticized it also at the time, but mainly for its timing relative to domestic elections only three weeks later, when Likud was reelected.<ref>Perry, Dan. ''Israel and the Quest for Permanence''. McFarland & Co Inc., 1999. p. 46.</ref> The new government [[Golan Heights Law|annexed the Golan Heights]] and banned the [[El Al|national airline]] from flying on [[Shabbat]].<ref name="shabbat">{{cite web | url=http://www.jewishgates.org/history/modhis/elal.stm | title=El-Al, Israel's Airline | publisher=Gates of Jewish Heritage |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20010222124207/http://www.jewishgates.org/history/modhis/elal.stm |archive-date = 22 February 2001}}</ref>

===Lebanon invasion===
{{Main|1982 Lebanon War}}
[[File:בגין בבופור.jpg|thumb|right|Menachem Begin and Ariel Sharon at the [[Beaufort Castle, Lebanon]] after its [[Battle of the Beaufort|capture]] by IDF forces in June 1982]]
On 6 June 1982, Begin's government authorized the [[Israel Defense Forces]] [[1982 Invasion of Lebanon|invasion of Lebanon]], in response to the attempted assassination of the Israeli ambassador to the United Kingdom, [[Shlomo Argov]]. The objective of Operation ''Peace for Galilee'' was to force the [[PLO]] out of rocket range of Israel's northern border. Begin was hoping for a short and limited Israeli involvement that would destroy the PLO's political and military infrastructure in southern Lebanon, effectively reshaping the balance of Lebanese power in favor of the Christian Militias who were allied with Israel. Nevertheless, fighting soon escalated into war with Palestinian and Lebanese militias, as well as the Syrian military, and the IDF progressed as far as [[Beirut]], well beyond the 40&nbsp;km limit initially authorized by the government. Israeli forces were successful in driving the PLO out of Lebanon and forcing its leadership to relocate to Tunisia, but the war ultimately failed to achieve its political goals of bringing security to Israel's northern border and creating stability in Lebanon. Begin referred to the invasion as an inevitable act of survival, often comparing [[Yasser Arafat]] to [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]].

====Sabra and Shatila massacre====
Public dissatisfaction reached a peak in September 1982, after the [[Sabra and Shatila Massacre]]. Hundreds of thousands gathered in [[Tel Aviv]] in what was one of the biggest public demonstrations in Israeli history. The [[Kahan Commission]], appointed to investigate the events, issued its report on 9 February 1983, found the government indirectly responsible for the massacre but that Defense Minister [[Ariel Sharon]] "bears personal responsibility." The commission recommended that Sharon be removed from office and never serve in any future Israeli government. Initially, Sharon attempted to remain in office and Begin refused to fire him. But Sharon resigned as Defense Minister after the death of [[Emil Grunzweig]], who was killed by a grenade tossed into a crowd of demonstrators leaving a [[Peace Now]] organized march, which also injured ten others, including the son of an Israeli cabinet minister. Sharon remained in the cabinet as a minister without portfolio. Public pressure on Begin to resign increased.<ref>{{cite book |last1= Schiff |first1= Ze'ev |author-link= Ze'ev Schiff |last2= Ehud |first2= Yaari |author-link2= Ehud Yaari |title= Israel's Lebanon War |publisher= [[Simon & Schuster]] |year= 1984 |isbn= 978-0-671-47991-6 |url= https://archive.org/details/israelslebanonwa0000schi }}</ref>

Begin's disoriented appearance on national television while visiting the [[Battle of the Beaufort (1982)|Beaufort battle]] site raised concerns that he was being misinformed about the war's progress. Asking Sharon whether PLO fighters had ‘machine guns’, Begin seemed out of touch with the nature and scale of the military campaign he had authorized. Almost a decade later, ''[[Haaretz]]'' reporter [[Uzi Benziman]] published a series of articles accusing Sharon of intentionally deceiving Begin about the operation's initial objectives, and continuously misleading him as the war progressed. Sharon sued both the newspaper and Benziman for [[libel]] in 1991. The trial lasted 11 years, with one of the highlights being the deposition of Begin's son, [[Benny Begin|Benny]], in favor of the defendants. Sharon lost the case.<ref>[http://www.haaretz.com/breaking-the-silence-of-cowards-1.36149 Breaking the silence of cowards] Haaretz, 23 August 2002. Retrieved 26 April 2007</ref>

===Resignation===
{{unreferenced section|date=September 2021}}
After Begin's wife Aliza died in November 1982 while he was away on an official visit to Washington DC, he fell into a deep depression. Begin also became disappointed by the war in Lebanon because he had hoped to sign a peace treaty with the government of President [[Bashir Gemayel]], who was assassinated. Instead, there were mounting Israeli casualties, and protesters outside his office maintained a constant vigil with a sign showing the number of Israeli soldiers killed in Lebanon, which was constantly updated. Begin also continued to be plagued by the ill health and occasional hospitalizations that he had endured for years. In October 1983, he resigned, telling his colleagues that "I cannot go on any longer", and handed over the reins of the office of Prime Minister to his old comrade-in-arms [[Yitzhak Shamir]], who had been the leader of the [[Lehi (group)|Lehi]] resistance to the British.

==Tertiated==
Begin, in his first meeting with President Carter, used the word '''tertiated''' to describe how, during the ''Holocaust'' one in three Jews, of the worldwide Jewish population, were murdered.<ref>{{cite news
   |url=https://www.jta.org/1977/08/11/archive/begin-no-u-s-pressure-on-israel
   |title=Begin: No U.S. Pressure on Israel
   |date=11 August 1977}}</ref>  When Carter asked "What was that word, Mr. Prime Minister?" Begin compared it to the Roman army term ''[[Decimation (punishment)|Decimation]]'' and then added "one in three – tertiated!"<ref>{{cite magazine  |magazine=[[Jewish World Review]]
      |url=http://www.jewishworldreview.com/0903/begin_leadership.php3
      |title=How to negotiate for 'peace'
      |author=[[Yehuda Avner]]  |date=17 September 2003}}</ref>

Begin elaborated later on: "When I use the word "Tertiated" I mean to say that we do not accept the known term of "Decimation".<ref>{{cite web |website=Official Government Document
|url=https://mfa.gov.il/MFA/ForeignPolicy/MFADocuments/Yearbook3/Pages/32%20Toast%20by%20Prime%20Minister%20Begin%20at%20a%20dinner%20in%20ho.aspx
|title=Toast by Prime Minister Begin at a dinner in honour of Secretary of State Vance, 9 August 1977
|quote=M.Begin to US Ambassador: When I use the word "Tertiated" I mean to say that we do not accept the known term of "Decimation". 
|date=9 August 1977}}</ref> [[Avi Weiss]] highlighted: "But the Holocaust is different" and noted "As Menachem Begin once said, during the Holocaust our people were not decimated, but "''tertiated''" — it was not one in ten, but one in three that were murdered."<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=[[The Forward]]
|url=https://forward.com/scribe/398549/will-the-holocaust-be-remembered-100-years-from-now
|title=Will The Holocaust Be Remembered 100 Years From Now?
|author=[[Avi Weiss]] |date=11 April 2018}}</ref>

==Retirement and seclusion==

Begin subsequently retired to an apartment overlooking the [[Jerusalem Forest]] and spent the rest of his life in seclusion. According to Israeli psychologist [[Ofer Grosbard]], he suffered from clinical depression.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.haaretz.co.il/misc/1.1104756|title=עקב מחלתו של ראש הממשלה|first=דליה|last=קרפל|newspaper=הארץ |date=10 May 2006|via=Haaretz}}</ref> He would rarely leave his apartment, and then usually to visit his wife's grave-site to say the traditional [[Kaddish]] [[Jewish prayer|prayer]] for the departed. His seclusion was watched over by his children and his lifetime personal secretary Yechiel Kadishai, who monitored all official requests for meetings. Begin would meet almost no one other than close friends or family. After a year, he changed his telephone number due to journalists constantly calling him. He was cared for by his daughter Leah and a housekeeper. According to Kadishai, Begin spent most of his days reading and watching movies, and would start and finish a book almost every day. He also kept up with world events by continuing his lifelong habit of listening to the [[BBC]] every morning, which had begun during his underground days, and maintaining a subscription to several newspapers. Begin retained some political influence in the Likud party, which he used to influence it behind the scenes.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1298&dat=19860726&id=4_hNAAAAIBAJ&pg=6855,4381001|title=The Free Lance-Star - Google News Archive Search|website=news.google.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2209&dat=19870402&id=tZBKAAAAIBAJ&pg=5747,372516|title=The Telegraph - Google News Archive Search|website=news.google.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2194&dat=19851030&id=C18zAAAAIBAJ&pg=1409,5058182|title=Ottawa Citizen - Google News Archive Search|website=news.google.com}}</ref>

In 1990, Begin broke his hip in a fall and underwent surgery at [[Shaare Zedek Medical Center]]. Afterwards, doctors recommended moving him to Ichilov Hospital at the [[Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center]] for rehabilitation. He was released from hospital in March 1991 and subsequently moved to an apartment in the [[Afeka]] neighborhood in Tel Aviv. The hospital stay and permanent move to Tel Aviv greatly improved his health and mood and his seclusion somewhat loosened. On [[Passover]] eve in 1991, he gave a telephone interview as part of a television broadcast marking fifty years since the death of Ze'ev Jabotinsky. He gave another telephone interview, which would be the last interview of his life, in July 1991.<ref>Shilon, pp. 376-379</ref>

==Death==
[[File:Menachem Begin commemorative plaque.jpg|thumb|upright|Commemorative plaque in memory of Menachem Begin in [[Brest, Belarus|Brest]], [[Belarus]]; he was born in the city]]
[[File:Tablica pamiątkowa Menachem Begin Auditorium Maximum UW.JPG|thumb|upright|Plaque in memory of Menachem Begin at the Auditorium Maximum, [[University of Warsaw]], where he studied law]]

On 3 March 1992, Begin suffered a severe heart attack in his apartment, and was rushed to [[Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center|Ichilov Hospital]], where he was put in the [[intensive care unit]]. Begin arrived there unconscious and paralyzed on the left side of his body. His condition slightly improved following treatment, and he regained consciousness after 20 hours. For the next six days, Begin remained in serious condition. A [[pacemaker]] was implanted in his chest to stabilize his heartbeat on 5 March.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-03-06-mn-3340-story.html|title=Begin Gets Pacemaker After Health Worsens|date=6 March 1992|website=Los Angeles Times}}</ref> Begin was too frail to overcome the effects of the heart attack, and his condition began to rapidly deteriorate on 9 March at about 3:15 AM. An emergency team of doctors and nurses attempted to resuscitate his failing heart. His children were notified of his condition and immediately rushed to his side. Begin died at 3:30 AM. His death was announced an hour and a half later. Shortly before 6:00 AM, the hospital rabbi arrived at his bedside to say the [[Kaddish]] prayer.<ref>Hurwitz, pp. 238–239</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ou.org/chagim/yomhaatzmauth/begin.html|title=Yom Ha'atzmaut, Israel Independence Day|website=Jewish Holidays|date=14 April 2013}}</ref>

Begin's funeral took place in [[Jerusalem]] that afternoon. His coffin was carried four kilometers from the [[Sanhedria Cemetery#Operation|Sanhedria Funeral Parlor]] to [[Mount of Olives]] in a funeral procession attended by thousands of people.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-2237831.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518210913/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-2237831.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=18 May 2013 |title=Menachem Begin is Laid to Rest in Simple Mount of Olives Ceremony |first=Gil |last=Sedan |work=[[Jewish Telegraphic Agency]] |date=10 March 1992 |access-date=7 October 2012}} (subscription required)</ref> In accordance with his wishes, Begin was given a simple Jewish burial ceremony rather than a state funeral and buried on the Mount of Olives in the [[Mount of Olives Jewish Cemetery|Jewish Cemetery]] there. He had asked to be buried there instead of [[Mount Herzl]], where most Israeli leaders are laid to rest, because he wanted to be buried beside his wife Aliza, as well as [[Meir Feinstein]] of [[Irgun]] and [[Moshe Barazani]] of [[Lehi (group)|Lehi]], who committed suicide together in jail while awaiting execution by the British.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/846330.html|title=The good jailer – Israel News-Haaretz Daily Newspaper<!-- Bot generated title -->|access-date=3 September 2008|archive-date=26 March 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090326071126/http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/846330.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> An estimated 75,000 mourners were present at the funeral. Prime Minister [[Yitzhak Shamir]], President [[Chaim Herzog]], all cabinet ministers present in Israel, Supreme Court justices, Knesset members from most parties and a number of foreign ambassadors attended the funeral. Former members of the Irgun High Command served as pallbearers.<ref>Hurwitz p. 239</ref>

==Overview of offices held==
Begin served as prime minister (Israel's [[head of government]]) from 21 June 1977 through 10 October 1983, leading the [[Eighteenth government of Israel|18th government]] during the [[List of members of the ninth Knesset|9th Knesset]] and the [[Nineteenth government of Israel|19th government]] during the first portion of the [[List of members of the tenth Knesset|10th Knesset]].

Begin was a member of the Knesset from 1949 through until he resigned in 1983. Begin was twice the [[Leader of the Opposition (Israel)|Knesset's opposition leader]] (at the time an unofficial and honorary role). He was first opposition leader from November 1955 through June 1967, holding the role during the entirety of the [[List of members of the third Knesset|3rd]], [[List of members of the fourth Knesset|4th]], [[List of members of the fifth Knesset|5th]], and the first portion of the [[List of members of the sixth Knesset|6th]] Knessets, during the second premiership of David Ben-Gurion and the premiership of Levi Eshkol] He again served as opposition leader from August 1970 through June 1977, during the last portion of the [[List of members of the seventh Knesset|7th Knesset]] and entirety of the [[List of members of the eighth Knesset|8th Knesset]], during which period Golda Meir and Yitzhak Rabin served as prime minister.

Begin was the founding leader of Herut, and served as the party's leader until 1983. He was also made leader of the Likud coalition at its founding in 1973, and also held that position until 1983.

===Ministerial posts===
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Ministerial posts
|-
! Ministerial post !! Tenure !! Prime Minister(s) !! Government(s) !! Predecessor !! Successor
|-
| [[Minister without portfolio]] || 5 June 1967 – 10 March 1975 || [[Levi Eshkol]] {{small|(until 26 February 1969)}}<br>[[Yigal Allon]] {{Small|(acting 26 February 1969–17 March 1969)}}<br>[[Golda Meir]] {{small|(from 17 March 1969)}} || [[Thirteenth government of Israel|13]], [[Fourteenth government of Israel|14]], [[Fifteenth government of Israel|15]] || {{N/A}} || {{N/A}}
|-
| [[Ministry of Communications (Israel)|Minister of Communications]] || 21 June 1977 – 24 October 1977 || ''Menachem Begin'' || [[Eighteenth government of Israel|18]] || [[Aharon Uzan]] || [[Meir Amit]]
|-
| [[Ministry of Justice (Israel)|Minister of Justice]] || 21 June 1977 – 24 October 1977 || ''Menachem Begin'' || 18 || [[Moshe Baram]] || [[Yisrael Katz]]
|-
| [[Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs and Social Services|Minister of Labour and Social Welfare]] || 21 June 1977 – 24 October 1977 || ''Menachem Begin'' || 18 || [[Haim Yosef Zadok]] || [[Shmuel Tamir]]
|-
| [[Ministry of Transport and Road Safety|Minister of Transportation]] || 21 June 1977 – 24 October 1977 || ''Menachem Begin'' || 18 || [[Gad Yaacobi]] || Meir Amit
|-
| [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Israel)|Minister of Foreign Affairs]] || 23 October 1979 – 10 March 1980 || ''Menachem Begin'' || 18 || [[Moshe Dayan]] || [[Yitzhak Shamir]]
|-
| [[Ministry of Defense (Israel)|Minister of Defense]] || 28 May 1980 – 5 August 1981 || ''Menachem Begin'' || 18, [[Nineteenth government of Israel|19]] || [[Ezer Weizman]] || [[Ariel Sharon]]
|-
| [[Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (Israel)|Minister of Agriculture]] || 19 June 1983 – 10 October 1983 || ''Menachem Begin'' || 19 || [[Simha Erlich]] || [[Pesah Grupper]]
|}

==Published work==
* ''[[The Revolt]]'' ({{ISBN|978-0-8402-1370-9}})
* ''[[White Nights (book)|White Nights: The Story of a Prisoner in Russia]]'' ({{ISBN|978-0-06-010289-0}})

==See also==
* [[List of Israeli Nobel laureates]]
* [[List of Jewish Nobel laureates]]
* [[Menachem Begin Heritage Center]]
* [[Not one inch]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book |last1=Avner |first1=Yehuda |author-link1=Yehuda Avner |date=2010 |title=[[The Prime Ministers|The Prime Ministers: An Intimate Narrative of Israeli Leadership]] |publisher=Toby Press |isbn=978-1-59264-278-6 |oclc=758724969}}
* Frank Gervasi, ''The Life and Times of Menahem Begin: rebel to statesman'', Putnam, 1979
* [[Daniel Gordis]], ''Menachem Begin: The Battle for Israel's Soul'', Nextbook, 2014
* Harry Hurwitz, Yisrael Medad, ''Peace in the Making'', [[Gefen Publishing House]], 2010
* Ilan Peleg, ''Begin's Foreign Policy, 1977–1983: Israel's Move to the Right'', Greenwood Press, 1987
* Avi Shilon, ''Begin, 1913–1992'', 2007
* Eric Silver, ''Begin: The Haunted Prophet'', Random House, 1984
* Sasson Sofer, ''Begin: An Anatomy of Leadership'', Basil Blackwell, 1988

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Commons}}
{{Wikisource}}

===Official sites===
* [https://www.begincenter.org.il/?lang=en The Menachem Begin Heritage Center]
* [http://www.pmo.gov.il/PMOEng/Archive/Speeches/2004/06/begin1606.htm PM Sharon's Address at the Opening Ceremony for the Begin Heritage Centre Building], 16 June 2004.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120220034546/http://www.pmo.gov.il/PMOEng/History/FormerPrimeMinister/MenacheBegin.htm Menachem Begin – The Sixth Prime Minister] at the Official Site of the [Israeli] Prime Minister's Office.
* {{MKlink|id=692}}.
** [https://www.knesset.gov.il/lexicon/eng/begin_eng.htm in English]

===Miscellaneous links===
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110903011255/http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Peace%20Process/Guide%20to%20the%20Peace%20Process/Camp%20David%20Accords The Camp David Accords]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050403174652/http://www.etzel.org.il/ Irgun webpage]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110916104801/http://www.globalwebpost.com/farooqm/study_res/einstein/nyt_letter.html 1948 Letter of some Eminent Jews to New York Times]
* {{Nobelprize}} including the Nobel Lecture, 10 December 1978 
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071128003608/http://www.irus.co.il/images/clali/61.jpg Bodies of murdered Clifford Martin and Marvyn Paice]
* [http://brest-belarus.org/bc/Briskers/Begin_memorial.i.html Menachem Begin Memorial Dedication in Brest, Belarus]
** [http://vb.by/article.php?topic=3&article=21050 About the future Begin Monument in Brest, Belarus] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131102075920/http://vb.by/article.php?topic=3&article=21050 |date=2 November 2013 }}, ''[[Vecherniy Brest]]'', Brest, Belarus. {{in lang|ru}}
** [http://vb.by/article.php?topic=4&article=22782 Unveiling of the Begin Monument in Brest, Belarus (31 October 2013)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140420094903/http://vb.by/article.php?topic=4&article=22782 |date=20 April 2014 }}, ''Vecherniy Brest'', Brest, Belarus. {{in lang|ru}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120228163851/http://www.archives.gov.il/NR/exeres/EA9B7FDB-4453-4849-B53C-B888DF23F8C3%2Cframeless.htm?NRMODE=Published Prime Minister Menachem Begin on justice and the rule of law: selected documents on the 20th anniversary of his death] at the [[Israel State Archives]] (Prime Minister's Office).
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130716160432/http://jewishhistorylectures.org/2013/04/28/menachem-begin-a-new-israel/ "Menachem Begin: A New Israel", Video Lecture] by [[Henry Abramson]].
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20131005090137/http://www.archives.gov.il/ArchiveGov_Eng/Publications/ElectronicPirsum/MenachemBegin/ Prime Minister Menachem Begin on justice and the rule of law: selected documents on the 20th anniversary of his death on Israel State Archives website]

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